The present invention relates in general to fluidized bed boilers and, in particular, to a new and useful heat exchanger support system which utilizes support tubes that extend over and are supported by the wall headers of a fluidized bed boiler.
Various systems have been developed to support heat exchangers in a fluidized bed boiler, including stringer support tubes to hang the heat exchanger and mechanical supports from which the heat exchanger is bottom supported. The use of vertical support tubes for hanging horizontally extending heat exchanger tubes are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,698 to Nunninghoff, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,795 to Loiez et al. The use of tube columns which rise from the floor of a fluidized bed to support a heat exchanger is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,385 to Waryasz.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,154 to Weber discloses a fluidized bed boiler having horizontal heat exchanger tubes which are supported on vertical cooled support tubes extending from and supported by the floor of the boiler. Heat exchanger tubes which are supported by their headers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,502 to Dreuilhe et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,618 to Fournier.
Also, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,189 to Lecon for the use of vertical bars for supporting heat exchanger tubes and U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,889 to Chayes for horizontally extending heat exchanger tubes clamped to vertical support tubes.